‘Anti-fragile’ is a book by Nassim Taleb about creating systems that benefit from disorder. “Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty. Yet, in spite of the ubiquity of the phenomenon, there is no word for the exact opposite of fragile. Let us

Why do we learn new songs? Why don’t we just sing our familiar favourites? Why don’t we wear the same clothes we did in the 70s? Because fashions change. There’s nothing wrong with 70s clothes, they looked great back then. They’re still fun to wear to parties and trivia nights. But styles change and what

The church started life as a marginal minority. A heretical sect despised by the Jews and persecuted by the Romans. But it grew. In 312AD Constantine became Roman Emperor and Christianity became the official religion. Persecution ended, church buildings flew up, and new people flocked to the church. For centuries Christianity remained the state, or

Hopefully you didn’t watch the movie Titanic or Apollo 13 wondering what happens! So why make a movie about it? Why would we want to hear a story we already know? Why retell history? That’s the question we often face as Christians – why should we keep telling the same message? Isn’t it outdated or

Many of our Australian sporting teams carry a unique identity, a nickname. The rugby union team, the Wallabies. Our female cricketers, the Southern Stars and the soccer team are the Matildas. The men’s hockey team are the Kookaburras. There’s a certain theme, an Aussie flavour, a national identity. It continues with the rugby league team,

Do you love this city? Recently Melbourne lost the title of “world’s most liveable city.” After 7 years at the top, it fell… to second place. But for a city that ranks so highly, we find it easy to pick its faults (transport, cost of living, safety, etc.). It’s loud and busy and… that’s why

When I was a teenager, I thought it was funny to say, “aim low, you’ll never be disappointed.” I thought it was kind of clever. Depressing, discouraging and devoid of hope… but clever. I was more interested in being clever than being courageous. We might not openly and intentionally think this way, but subconsciously, I

What if there was only one message you needed to hear? I’ve written 100 sermons but perhaps there should only be one I ever have to give. If I’d know that earlier, I could have saved myself a lot of time in preparation. Love God with everything. Love others as you love yourself. It’s the

When people really want something… they’ll form a queue. It may not always be orderly or neat, but people line up for the boxing day sales, they queue outside Aldi before the weekly “Special Buys” go on sale, there’s even the few faithful crowding around apple stores when a new iPhone is released. We’ll go

Caring about people is hard. So many people and needs. So much going on, going wrong. Terror. Abuse. Depression. Poverty. Hate. We can be left feeling limited – there’s only so much I can do. Liable – I should have done more. Lost – where can I start? Lonely – who’s caring for me? Often,